Friday, October 18, 2013

On The Air: Wander Over Yonder (2013)

Take the inventive whimsy of Dr. Seuss, mix it together with the up-tempo slapstick comedy of Looney Tunes, and you have an idea of Disney's latest hit, Wander Over Yonder.

Wander (Jack McBrayer, ex-30 Rock) is a space traveler who keeps crossing paths with galactic despot Lord Hater (Keith Ferguson), oblivious to the threat Hater poses to the universe. Wander's best friend & sidekick, Sylvia (April Winchell) is a horse-like steed who can also stand on her hind legs, much like 30-30 did for Bravestarr more than a quarter-century ago. However, unlike 30-30, Sylvia is mostly all talk. The eternally cheerful Wander manages to win the day via sheer luck, which frustrates Hater to no end.

The series' opening episode, "The Greatest", took several pages from the Bugs Bunny playbook as Wander finessed Hater into defeat. The backup, "The Egg", was for all intents & purposes a left-handed homage to Dr. Seuss' Horton Hatches The Egg, which was the sequel to Horton Hears a Who. Let's scope out this sample clip from "The Greatest". Let's face it, Muhammad Ali Hater ain't.

If it hadn't moved from Disney Channel to Disney XD, the ratings would still be good. And if it had better ratings during the remainder of the first season on Disney XD, it would have kept going. Back in 2015, Craig did pitch his ideas for a third season, and goodness knows how that went. However, he and the crew got word of cancellation just before the airing of The Greater Hater, and fans were unaware until Craig announced it on March 2016.

The thing is, Disney XD is only accessible by a fraction of the country. Oddly, Gravity Falls and Star vs. the Forces of Evil were viewed on Disney XD by more people, but fewer people tuned into Wander Over Yonder. Irksome, I know. After two seasons, however, the WOY fan community is growing even more. In fact, it got even bigger after My Fair Hatey premiered.

Disney ought to know that no one is happy about the cancellation/discontinuation, which is why the SaveWOY campaign continues. So far, we've had tons of fan art, mailed letters, Tumblr trending on the 27th of every month, and wet broom art at Downtown Disney. The online petition has nearly 39,400 supporters now. You can sign it and pass it on if you want to help. If we succeed, Craig won't have to keep his third season ideas under his proverbial hat and we'll finally get to see what will really become of Wander, Sylvia, Hater, Peepers, Dominator, and everyone else. If I'm not mistaken, it's supposed to be the show's best season ever.

The petition now has over 42,380 supporters. And yes, the number continues to rise (slowly but surely).

I just wanted to mention that Craig's pitch for his next show went well and a pilot for said show is in the works. If the Disney suits like it, they'll let him make the show or hopefully let him finish Wander Over Yonder HIS way first. Let's face it, in this age of DTVA resurgence, stopping a well-animated, well-written, truly engaging, truly funny show right after the second season finale closes off with an animatic hinting at things only Craig and his crew know about makes no literal sense whatsoever.

Y'know what else? Dan Povenmire and Jeff Marsh got to finish Phineas and Ferb their way before working on Milo Murphy's Law. Same goes for Noah Jones's proper completion of Fish Hooks before the development of Pickle and Peanut (to be honest, that one hardly qualifies as a Disney show). If they, Alex Hirsch, and most likely Daron Nefcy get the chance to wrap up their first Disney shows their way, why not Craig McCracken? That's just one reason I continue to support the SaveWOY campaign.

Just for the record, Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero is slated to end after two seasons, but from what I know, the finale should definitely be satisfactory.

And hey, Gemma Cummins started a clever project called Operation FORCE (Fan-made Operation Regarding Conquering Earth) to globally spread awareness of WOY. Here's a link if you'd like to know more about it: https://operationforce.tumblr.com/

If you happen to live close to any famous landmarks, visit them, hold a Hater flag in front, take those pictures, and submit them. By the way, the first and second seasons are available to purchase on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon if you're interested.

I know that question isn't addressed to me, but if the lack of reviews of Almost Naked Animals and Fish Hooks is any indication, we might not expect to see his review right away. And even though ANA and FH aren't exactly pop culture phenomenons, they both got more than 80 episodes (if you count an 11-minute story as an episode). I know for sure FH (3 seasons) got a definite finale, as I previously established.

As for P&P, I know there's a second season coming up. I do wonder what Disney sees in Noah's ideas. What could possibly make those ideas more important to share with the world than Craig's S3 ideas? The show wasn't even featured on the cover of Animation Magazine - Wander Over Yonder did get one back in August/September 2013. Whatever is going on, I can only imagine two best case scenarios: either the executives have a change of heart or they're replaced with more thoughtful executives.

And just a heads up, Craig's second Disney show pilot is nearing completion. If Disney approves, we've got to show tons of support for Craig. With Disney launching its own streaming service in 2019, the show in question being serialized, and the time to make an 11-minute cartoon being one year and three months (see The Hiatus), he might have a shot. It might be a good way to boost support for Wander Over Yonder, too, so we must also let them know how determined we are to see those S3 ideas and true ending. I'm not abandoning WOY until I see that S2 animatic cliffhanger get resolved, learn about Lord Hater's backstory, and watch Wander succeed at befriending Hater for real. The online petition's at 44,446 and counting!